Car-door structure.



B. D. JONES. GAR DOOR STRUCTURE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15. 1909.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910. J

Enron.

BELDEN D. JONES, or cnrcsoo, rLLINoI's.

CAR-DOOR STRUCTURE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

Application filed November 15, 1909. Serial No. 527,998.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BELDEN D. Jonas, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Car-Door Structures, of w ich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in car door structures and refers moreparticularly to improvements in overhead suspension track mechanism of that type in which the track rail which receives the supporting wheels is outwardly facing -channel form and referably consists of a single piece of meta- Among the salient objects of the invention are to provide, in a construction of the above character, improved means for confining the supporting -wheels at all timesupon the track, and at the same time prevent binding of the door during its opening and closing movements; to provide a construction in which the upper flange of the channel memher serves not only as a hood or weather protection but also as a track-way for the supporting wheels during any uplifting movements of the door structure; to provide a construction in which the upper face of the door is equipped with a longitudinally extending metal Z-bar, which prevents warping of the door and which so cooperates with the channeled track member as to confine the door against lateral displacement without at the same time in any wise interfaring with its freedom of movement; to

rowde a device which is characterized by its simplicity'and economy of construction and which can readily be applied to cars of vi e an improve construction of the actor referred to.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 33 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

The invention relates more particularly to that class of freight car doors which are 5 so supported as to reciprocate in a plane outside of the side walls of the car body and which are, therefore, exposed to rain or detritus from the upper parts of the car body andaccordingly require special arrangement of the joints to make the closure, suitably weather proof.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates as a whole the car body and 2 the door, which so far as general features are concerned, may be of any usual or suitable construction. The car body is preferably pro vided above the door opening with the supporting piece 3 to which is secured by means of a pluralityof through bolts 4 the track member designated as a whole 5. This track member is of'general channel form, the side flanges 6 and 7 of which are horizontally dis osed, so that the track nember as a whole aces outwardly. If desired, the inner faces of those flanges may be' slightly inclined outwardly, as shown at 8. The heads of the through bolts 4 are countersunk as shown at 9 into the inner or rear face 10 of the track member. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2 the lower end of the track member depends below the supporting piece 3 and forms in connection with the main tending recess 11 for a purpose hereinafter described.

While the art of door structures of this general character is old, nevertheless difficulty has heretofore been experienced in constructing a door structure which was commercially practical and which at the same time, obviated binding and warping of the door incident to exposing the latter for any considerablelength of time to wear and weather. As an important feature of the present invention, means are provided for meeting the above conditions in a simple and reliable manner. To this end the upper edge of the door 2 is provided with a Z- bar 12 which extends across the upper edge of the door and is provided with the usual body of the car a longitudinally exflanges 13'and 14. Near the upper edge of The upper flange H- of the Z-bar extends ets connected to the door,-tracl wheels carwithin the longitudinally extending recess 11 and is of such height and width as to permit limited lateral and upward movement of this flange within the recess. It will be noted that the distance between the horizontal face of the Z-bar and the lower flange T of the track member is greater than the distance between the upper peripheries of the track wheels and the opposed under face of the over-hanging flange (3, from which it follows that in uplifting move ments of the door, the wheel will ride upon the upper flange 6 and arrest further upward movement of the door before the latter is broughtinto contact with any other part of the door structure. To the same end the distance between the. upper edge of the flange 14; of the Z-bar and the lower face of the supporting piece 3, is greater than the distance between the peripheries of the wheels and the under face of the overhanging flange 6. This arrangement prevents any binding due to the uplifting movements of the door and also confines the door structure as a Whole from lateral displacement.

In order to insure a close fitbetween the door and car body when the former is closed, I provide an abutment or lug 20 which in the present instance is shown as formed by striking out a portion of the rear face ofthe channeled track member. This lug or confining member extends into the recess 11 and engages the upstanding flange of the Z-bar. central part of the track member, as shown more clearly in Fig. l. The end of the car door opening opposite the end where said lug is, is provided with the usual channel (not shown) to receive the end of the door when the latter is closed. This is the usual construction and need not be described. The arrangement is such that the door will be securely confined at either end when in closed position, thus forming a weatherproof closure. Accordingly, the drip from the roof of the car will pass out over the Z-bar in place/of entering the car body.

The invention is not limited to the details of construction shown except as specified in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. The combination with a car body provided with a door opening and a door ada ted to be moved across said opening, of a channel shaped suspension track member mounted to extend horizontally above said opening with its open side facing outwardly and forming a longitudinally extending rccess between its rear-most face and the car body, a Z-bar mounted upon the upper edge of the .door and having its upstanding tlange projecting into said recess to prevent lateral displacement of the door, supporting brack- This lug is situated near the l ried by said brackets channeled track way, way being inclined outer edge,

and riding in said the lower face of said I i said parts being so arranged that the upper peripheries of the track wheels will engage the upper flange of the track member before said Z-bar encounters any other portion of the car body or track member.

2. The combination with a car body provided with a side door opening and a door I adapted to be moved across said opening, of a channel shaped suspension track member mounted to extend horizontally above said. opening with its open side facing outwardly and forming a longitudinally tending recess between its rear face and the car body, a Z-bar mounted upon the upper edge of the door and having its upstanding flange projecting into said recess to prevent lateral displacement of the door, suppo'ting brackets connected to the door, track wheels carried by said brackets and riding in said channeled track way, said parts being so arranged that the upper peripheries of the track wheels will engage the upper flange of the track member before said Z-bar encounters either the track member or the upper face of said recess.

3. The combination with a car body provided with a door opening and a door adapted to be moved across said opening, of a channel shaped-track member mounted to extend horizontally above said opening with its open side facing outwardly and forming a longitudinally extending recess be tween its rear face and the car body, supporting brackets connected to the door, track wheels carried by said brackets and riding in said channeled track way, and a Z-bar mounted upon the upper edge of the door and having its upstanding flange extending into said recess.

4. The combination with a car body provided with a door opening and door ada )ted to be moved across said opening, of a.

channel shaped suspension track member mounted to extend horizontally above said opening with its open side facing outwardly and having a longitudinally extending rccess between its rearmost face and the car body, an upstanding ttange extending from the inner upper edge of the door and projecting into said recess, supporting brackets connected to the door, track wheels carried by said brackets and riding in said channeled track way, said parts being so arranged that in upward movements of the door the track wheels will engage the upper flange of the track member before the door structure encounters the latter or the car body.

5. The combination with a car body provided with a side door opening and a door adapted to be moved across said opening,

dowmvardly toward its apart horizontally extending trackways, said her, said parts being so arranged that in uptrack memberv being' open at its outer end, and forminga longitudinally extending recess between its rear face and the car body, an upstanding flange extending from the in-v ner upper edge ofv the door and projecting into said recess,"supp0rt1ng brackets connecteml to the door, track wheels carried by said brackets and riding in said track meme wardunovement of the door the upper peripheries of thetrack wheels will engage the upper track Way before said flange encounters the upper face of said recess or the track door encounters the under side of the member. r 1

v BELDEN D. JONES. v Witnessesi ANNA OBR'I'EN. .HFRANKL. BELKNAP. 

